Written Answers

Wednesday 6 June 2001

Scottish Executive

Asylum Seekers

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many assaults against asylum seekers have been reported in Glasgow in the last year.

Mr Jim Wallace: The statistics available centrally on crimes of assault recorded by the police do not distinguish the requested information.

Asylum Seekers

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals have been reported to the police in connection with assaults on asylum seekers in Glasgow in the last year.

Mr Jim Wallace: The statistics available centrally on crimes of assault recorded by the police do not distinguish the requested information.

Best Value

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the nature is of any requirements placed on local authorities under the Best Value regime and what local authorities must do to comply with any such requirements.

Peter Peacock: Best Value is currently being taken forward on a voluntary basis in Scotland, and as such there are no formal "requirements" placed on local authorities by legislation or by the Scottish Executive with which local authorities must comply. Nevertheless, all authorities are expected to undertake a rolling programme of Best Value service reviews, to engage with and make comparative information on performance available to stakeholders and to plan for continuous improvement. These are in line with voluntary undertakings made in 1998.

  Local authorities are subject to inspection and audit arrangements which have been amended to accommodate Best Value scrutiny. Audit Scotland, on behalf of the Accounts Commission, annually consider the results of a "Performance Management and Planning" audit in each local council and publish an overview report. Inspection reports by HM Inspectorate of Education, the Social Work Services Inspectorate, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, the Fire Services Inspectorate and the Benefits Fraud Inspectorate make comment on Best Value where it is considered appropriate. The new inspections of the education functions of local authorities are conducted within a framework of quality indicators which have been designed to embody Best Value policy.

  In the future we intend to succeed the current voluntary regime by placing authorities under a duty to secure Best Value and we have already announced our intention to publish proposals for legislation on Best Value in the autumn.

Child Protection

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met Lothian and Borders Police to discuss Internet pornography.

Iain Gray: The Executive, Crown Office and police forces are acutely aware of the scope that the Internet provides for the sexual exploitation of children. There are ongoing discussions between the Executive and ACPOS, including officers from Lothian and Borders Police, about work in this area and the Crown Office and ACPOS are developing a joint strategy on the investigation and prosecution of sexual exploitation of children on the Internet.

Dairy Produce

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what response it has given to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and its campaign to discourage young children from consuming milk.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive was not asked for a view on this campaign which I regard as being ill-informed and irresponsible.

Domestic Abuse

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail any funding it currently provides for services to help children affected by the domestic abuse of a parent.

Jackie Baillie: The Domestic Abuse Service Development Fund is providing £12 million over four years to improve local circumstances for women and their children suffering domestic abuse. Six of the projects currently supported are aimed specifically at children and young people.

  £10 million in the Scottish Homes budget will improve refuge provision for both women and their children.

  The Executive provided funding of £10,000 last year to Scottish Women’s Aid to support the production leaflets aimed at children and young people and £67,000 to 33 local groups to improve facilities for children and young people in refuges and offices.

  The core funding which the Executive gives the National Office of Women's Aid includes funding for two posts for National Children's Workers.

Education

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it proposes to meet its commitment to cut class sizes to 30 or less in primaries 1, 2 and 3 before 31 August 2001.

Mr Jack McConnell: A further £20.1 million in 2001-02 has been made available through the Excellence Fund to assist education authorities reduce primary 1, 2 and 3 classes to 30 or less by 1 August 2001.

Education

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made by local authorities in developing authority-wide improvement plans for education.

Mr Jack McConnell: Under the terms of the school improvement framework established in the Standards in Scotland’s Schools Act 2000, local authorities must publish their improvement plans by December 2001.

Employment

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what further discussions have been held with Motorola and what percentage of employees being made redundant from the Bathgate plant have secured other employment.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Motorola task force, comprising representatives from Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian, the Employment Service, West Lothian Council, the Careers Service and the Benefits Agency have been in regular contact with the company with a view to supporting those workers who are losing their jobs.

  200 employees, approximately 6.5% of the workforce, have been granted early release in order to take up new employment. A further 50 employees, 1.6% of the workforce, are currently on job-specific training and are guaranteed employment when the training ends.

  The figures do not take into account those employees who have a job offer but have not yet left Motorola. We hope to have a more complete picture when the tracking scheme for employees comes into effect.

Employment

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider introducing and funding a scheme to retrain as teachers people who have been made redundant by employers such as Motorola and who possess skills in subject areas where there are shortages of teachers.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Motorola Taskforce is willing to consider any reasonable proposals for retraining from those workers affected by the closure. The Executive is working closely with the taskforce to provide the best possible outcome for all those affected.

European Union

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will seek a meeting with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary to examine any implications for Scotland of the French Prime Minister’s recent proposals regarding reform of the European Union.

Mr Jack McConnell: There is no need for us to seek a ministerial meeting on this specific subject. We maintain extremely close contact with the UK Government on all EU issues of significance to Scotland. These arrangements are underpinned by the Memorandum of Understanding and over-arching Concordat on the co-ordination of EU policy issues.

Fisheries

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications there have been for assistance under the re-start scheme run by Highlands and Islands Enterprise for salmon farms affected by infectious salmon anaemia; how many of these applications have been successful, and how many are still under consideration, broken down by parliamentary constituency and specifying the total value of applications in each case.

Rhona Brankin: There have been 35 applications. 18 have been approved; a further eight are still under consideration, and if approved these would take the total amount approved to around £4.3 million. A further seven applications were judged to be ineligible; two others, although eligible, have not been pursued by the companies involved.

  


Parliamentary 
  constituency
  

Number 
  of applications
  

Number 
  of applications approved to date
  

Number 
  of applications under consideration
  

Value 
  of applications approved to date
(£ 
  million)
  



Shetland
  

18
  

9
  

7
  

£1.2
  



Orkney
  

3
  

1
  

0
  

£0.3
  



Argyll & 
  Bute
  

6
  

4
  

0
  

£0.5
  



Ross, Skye 
  and Inverness West
  

5
  

1
  

1
  

£0.1
  



Western 
  Isles
  

3
  

3
  

0
  

£0.8
  



Total
  

35
  

18
  

8
  

£2.9
  



  Whilst it is almost two years since the last suspected ISA cases, we cannot entirely rule out the possibility of further outbreaks, which could again threaten the viability of some fish farming companies. The scheme will thus remain open for applications from such affected companies until spring 2002. We will, however, review the spending position later this year.

Fisheries

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what budget has been allocated to the re-start scheme run by Highlands and Islands Enterprise for salmon farms affected by infectious salmon anaemia for each year of the scheme’s operation; how much has been paid out under the scheme in each year of operation to date, and how much assistance has been agreed but not yet paid, specifying the year in which any such assistance is expected to be paid.

Rhona Brankin: The budget for the ISA Re-Start Scheme was £9 million. No applications were approved during 1999-2000 as EC state aids approval was not obtained until May 2000. The value of applications approved during 2000-01 was £2.9 million. Those still under consideration during the current year could, if approved, amount to a further £1.4 million.

  Whilst it is almost two years since the last suspected ISA cases, we cannot entirely rule out the possibility of further outbreaks. The scheme will thus remain open for applications from such affected companies until spring 2002. We will, however, review the spending position later this year.

Fisheries

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total weight was of (a) king and (b) queen scallops caught or farmed in Scottish waters and sold as (i) processed out of shell meat and (ii) live in shell whole scallops in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the weight and value was of (a) king and (b) queen scallops (i) caught by dredge, (ii) caught by divers and (iii) farmed in Scottish waters in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the weight and value was of (a) king and (b) queen scallops caught in Scottish waters and exported to each EU nation other than the UK as (i) processed out of shell meat and (ii) live in shell whole scallops in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Rhona Brankin: The information requested is not available. The tables show estimated scallop production.

  Estimated landings into Scotland of scallops and queen scallops from Scottish waters by UK vessels, 1996 to 2000

  


 


Scallops
  

Queen 
  scallops
  



Liveweight 
  (000 tonnes)
  

Value 
  (£000)
  

Liveweight 
  (000 tonnes)
  

Value 
  (£000)
  



1996
  

9.1
  

14,770
  

1
  

622
  



1997
  

9.4
  

15,352
  

1.1
  

463
  



1998
  

9.2
  

14,723
  

1.2
  

475
  



1999
  

7.6
  

12,774
  

2.1
  

924
  



2000
  

8.4
  

13,235
  

1.5
  

668
  



  Farmed scallops

  


 


Scallops
  

Queen 
  scallops
  



Shells 
  (000)
  

Value 
  (£000)
  

Shells 
  (000)
  

Value 
  (£000)
  



1995
  

300
  

na
  

1,147
  

na
  



1996
  

302
  

na
  

1,271
  

na
  



1997
  

223
  

na
  

1,207
  

na
  



1998
  

343
  

150-275
  

3,676
  

185
  



1999
  

127
  

60-80
  

2,842
  

140

Fisheries

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many outbreaks of food poisoning in each of the last five years for which figures are available were (a) proven and (b) suspected to have been caused by the consumption of Scottish caught or farmed (i) king and (ii) queen scallops containing high levels of algal toxins.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Food Standards Agency has informed me that the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health (SCIEH), which monitors outbreaks of infectious intestinal disease (IID) has received no reports of outbreaks of IID suspected to be due to the consumption of scallops in the past five years, nor is it aware of any cases of food poisoning in the last five years due to the presence of algal toxins in scallops.

Fisheries

Mr John Home Robertson (East Lothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its consultation paper on the conservation and development of freshwater fisheries.

Rhona Brankin: As I announced to Parliament during the final debate on the Salmon Conservation (Scotland) Bill in January, I am committed to publishing a Green Paper on proposals for the future management of freshwater fish and fisheries in Scotland before the end of the summer.

Football

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in setting up the seminar on football supporters’ trusts as announced by the Deputy Minister for Sport, the Arts and Culture on 8 March 2001.

Allan Wilson: Following discussions I have had with the football authorities and supporters’ organisations, arrangements are being made for a conference in the autumn to consider the role of football clubs in their local community. The formation of supporters’ trusts will be examined in that context.

Health

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review the arrangements between general practitioners and pharmacists regarding repeat prescriptions.

Susan Deacon: Yes. Our National Health commits the Executive to improving the provision of repeat medication and we will be considering options for taking this forward.

Health

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that GPs do not charge for the medical assessments necessary to access certain social security benefits, such as disability living allowance.

Susan Deacon: The National Health Service (General Medical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 1995 require general practitioners to provide to their patients free of charge medical certificates which are required for Social Security purposes. The Department of Social Security has issued "A Guide for Medical Practitioners" which also explains that charges to patients should not be made.

Higher Education

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there has been any improvement in the proportion of groups such as mature persons, women and people from low socio-economic backgrounds entering higher education.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The proportion of women and mature students continues to grow with women students accounting for 54% and mature students for 45% of all HE students in Scotland.

  For 1998-99, 18% of young full-time undergraduate entrants in higher education and further education in Scotland were from low participation areas, compared with 17% the previous year. This compares very favourably with the UK average of 13%.

Hospitals

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions in the past month Ayr hospital has been unable to accept GP referred admissions.

Susan Deacon: This is essentially an operational matter for Ayrshire and Arran Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

  All NHS hospitals will face peaks in demand at certain points of the year.

  I understand that a recent outbreak of sickness and diarrhoea has put additional pressure on services. However, I am reassured that at all times the Trust has been able to provide emergency medical provision.

Housing

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many residential properties owned by Scottish Homes there currently are in the Central Scotland electoral region and which body or bodies will assume ownership of these properties should the Housing (Scotland) Bill as amended at Stage 2 be enacted.

Ms Margaret Curran: Scottish Homes currently own approximately 1,000 rented properties in the Central Scotland electoral region. Following enactment of the Housing (Scotland) Bill, any remaining properties will continue to be owned by Scottish Homes, operating as a residuary body, until such time as they are transferred to other social landlords.

Justice

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many charges were brought during 2000 for driving without insurance and, of these, how many related to repeat offences, specifying in each case the number of convictions in respect of such charges which resulted in (a) a jail sentence, (b) community service and (c) an admonishment.

Mr Jim Wallace: The latest available information, which relates to 1999, is given in the table. In the majority of cases, information on prosecutions of repeat offences in relation to this type of offence cannot be separately identified within the data held centrally.

  Number of offences of failing to insure against third party risks proceeded against in Scottish courts, 1999

  


 


Total
  



Number of 
  offences proceeded against
  

16,251
  



Number of 
  offences with a charge proved
  

14,461
  



 of which 
  resulting in:
  

 




 Custody
  

39
  



 Community 
  Service Order
  

164
  



 Admonition
  

3,589

Justice

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many charges were brought during 2000 for driving while disqualified from holding a licence and, of these, how many related to repeat offences, specifying in each case the number of convictions in respect of such charges which resulted in (a) a jail sentence, (b) community service and (c) an admonishment.

Mr Jim Wallace: The latest available information, which relates to 1999, is given in the table.

  Number of offences of driving while disqualified proceeded against in Scottish courts, 1999

  


 


Total
  

No 
  previous
convictions1


One 
  or more
previous
convictions1




Number of 
  offences proceeded against
  

3,464
  

1,498
  

1,966
  



Number of 
  offences with a charge proved
  

3,205
  

1,408
  

1,797
  



 of which 
  resulting in:
  

 


 


 




 Custody
  

1,352
  

291
  

1,061
  



 Community 
  Service Order
  

643
  

344
  

299
  



 Admonition
  

129
  

69
  

60
  



  Notes:

  1. Previous convictions in Scottish courts, in the period 1989-99, for the offence of driving while disqualified.

NHS Waiting Times

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the First Minister whether the waiting time targets for the NHS have been achieved and what the reasons are for any instances where these targets have not been met.

Henry McLeish: On 31 March 2001, the national waiting time guarantee of 12 months for inpatient and day case treatment was met across Scotland.

Planning

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what right of appeal to the Scottish Ministers exists for homeowners who wish to fell trees which are protected by tree preservation orders.

Ross Finnie: Current planning legislation makes provision in each Tree Preservation Order for a right of appeal to Scottish Ministers against refusals or conditional consents issued by planning authorities in respect of applications to fell trees affected by a Tree Preservation Order.

School Meals

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it ensures that food served in schools is safe.

Mr Jack McConnell: Direct responsibility for the safety of food served in schools rests with the environmental health departments of each local authority. They ensure that the relevant caterers meet the standards required of all food businesses; this includes ensuring food is fit for human consumption, has been provided by a reputable supplier and has been prepared and served in a safe manner.

Scottish Ambulance Service

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will report on its consideration of a priority dispatch system for the Scottish Ambulance Service.

Susan Deacon: Health Department officials are currently discussing the costs and benefits of priority-based ambulance dispatch with the Scottish Ambulance Service. Once these discussions are complete, the Executive will decide whether the Ambulance Service should go ahead to prepare a full business case.

Scottish Executive Publications

Mr Keith Harding (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a detailed breakdown of the costs involved in publishing Checking for Change , including launch, printing and costs associated with publishing online.

Ross Finnie: The Checking for Change consultation paper has primarily been disseminated electronically. The launch of Checking for Change was carried out by news release and by e-mail to a number of relevant organisations. There were no separately identifiable costs associated with this.

  Those paper copies which will be issued will be photocopies. About 200 copies are expected to be sent to those interested parties who, as far as we know, do not have e-mail accounts. Each copy uses only three sheets of paper as the document is printed double-sided. Therefore, approximately 600 sheets of paper will be used.

  The cost of publishing both the Checking for Change paper and the Entec Report on Sustainability Indicators for Waste, Energy and Travel for Scotland on the Sustainable Scotland website was £40.

Scottish Legal Aid Board

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is the policy of the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) to refuse legal aid for divorce applications on the grounds of fault when there are no ancillary craves and what the reasons are for SLAB’s policy on this matter.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Legal Aid Board considers each application for civil legal aid on its own merits and against three statutory tests which it must apply to all cases. The tests are financial eligibility, probable cause of action and reasonableness. If these tests are met then civil legal aid will be granted.

Scottish Legal Aid Board

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications for legal aid for divorce applications on the basis of fault with no ancillary craves were made to the Scottish Legal Aid Board and how many were refused on the "reasonableness" test in 1999-2000 and 2000-01.

Mr Jim Wallace: This is a matter for the Scottish Legal Aid Board. The information requested is not held centrally.

Scottish Qualifications Authority

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation was undertaken prior to the decision by the Scottish Qualifications Authority to discontinue Standard Grade Technological Studies at Foundation level.

Mr Jack McConnell: Two separate consultations were undertaken by the Scottish Qualifications Authority which sought the views of a wide range of teachers, headteachers and education managers. The first was issued on 14 December 1999 for completion by 4 February 2000 and the second issued on 13 November 2000 for completion by 15 December 2000.

Scottish Qualifications Authority

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that the Scottish Qualifications Authority gives notice of any plans to discontinue courses to schools earlier than May in future years in order to avoid pupils having selected options for the coming year by the time such plans are known.

Mr Jack McConnell: The Scottish Qualifications Authority will always endeavour to alert schools to course changes as early as it can. Unfortunately, in the case of Standard Grade Technological Studies, this was not possible until May. While I understand the difficulties this causes, the alternative would have been to delay changes for another session and thereby deny teachers access to new resource materials and pupils the opportunity to study the newly developed contemporary course.

Social Inclusion

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the reasons are for the delay in allocating community empowerment funding in the current financial year to Pathfinder and area-based social inclusion partnerships and when this funding will be allocated.

Jackie Baillie: I would refer the member to the announcement I made during the urban regeneration debate on 10 May (Scottish Parliament's Official Report , 10 May 2001, col. 633). Guidance on the use of the resources allocated to partnerships will be issued very shortly.

Student Finance

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-15344 by Mr Alasdair Morrison on 18 May 2001, what the estimated annual cost will be of collecting endowment payments from EU students who leave the UK after graduating.

Mr Alasdair Morrison: Details of the arrangements for collecting the Graduate Endowment are being finalised in discussions between the Scottish Executive and the Student Loans Company. However, the view of the Student Loans Company to date has been that, as the number of liable students expected to leave the UK after graduating will be relatively small, the cost of collecting the endowment from them does not merit calculating it separately.

Sustainable Development

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Ministerial Group on Sustainable Scotland was last convened, what was discussed, when it will next meet and what will be on the agenda.

Ross Finnie: The Ministerial Group on Sustainable Scotland last met on 19 March 2001. The main issues discussed were the Health Spending Programme, the consultation on sustainable development indicators and responses to the Renewables Obligation Scotland consultation.

  A summary of this meeting is available on the Ministerial Group page of the Sustainable Scotland website at www.sustainable.scotland.gov.uk.

  The group’s next meeting is planned for 31 July and the main items on the agenda will be:

  transport and sustainable communities;

  the mainstreaming of sustainable development in the structural funds, and

  strategic environmental assessment.

Transport

Mr John Home Robertson (East Lothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many abandoned motor vehicles have been uplifted and disposed of by each local authority in each of the last five years; what has been the cost of this activity, and what proportion of the cost is recovered from vehicle owners or insurers.

Rhona Brankin: This information is not held centrally.

Urban Task Force

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to establish an urban task force.

Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive is pursuing a wide range of initiatives of relevance to urban Scotland, including work on social justice, housing, transport, local governance, health, education and the environment. The Executive intends to build on these initiatives in taking forward the Review of Scotland’s Cities, announced by the First Minister last year. Further details will be announced before the summer.

Victim Support

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive from which budget the £2.2 million granted to Victim Support Scotland in 2000-01 specifically to help victims of sexual assaults, referred to by the Deputy Minister for Social Justice on 28 March 2001 (Official Report, col. 1032), came and where and how this money was spent.

Mr Jim Wallace: Victim Support Scotland receives funding from the Scottish Executive under section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968.

  Victim Support Scotland (VSS) provides emotional and practical support to all victims of crime. The grant to VSS in 2000-01 was £2.2 million and covered services to all victims including victims of sexual assault.